Habitat Enhancement Project Complete at Goose Pond

Ann Arbor, Mich. - December 11, 2008 - Another phase has been completed in the ongoing restoration at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area (FWA) in Greene County, Indiana. Ducks Unlimited (DU), the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), and Duke Energy partnered to complete a recent project at Goose Pond FWA.

The original Goose Pond was an active, healthy wetland created many thousands of years ago by glaciers retreating across the landscape. The natural, thriving habitat was then pumped and drained for development and agriculture in the last century, leaving the landscape greatly altered. Today, efforts are underway to restore the area's productive wetlands for wildlife and people to use and enjoy.

DU and its partners recently completed the successful enhancement of an additional 58 acres of emergent wetlands with funding from a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant awarded to the NWTF. DU biological and engineering staff worked closely with the IDNR to install a new water control structure and improve other management infrastructure at the FWA. This enhancement project will allow the IDNR to effectively control the water levels and moist-soil plant growth within this 58-acre wetland unit.

“We are proud to see another step in the full restoration of Goose Pond FWA completed,” said Michael Sertle, DU Regional Biologist. “Our conservation partners were crucial to securing the funds needed to complete this latest project, and we thank them for their ongoing dedication to Indiana habitat conservation.”

In 2000, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service purchased a permanent easement from the former landowner and began restoration of the wetland and other wildlife habitat on the property. Restoration efforts to date include over 30 miles of earthen dikes, 400 acres of tree plantings, 1,400 acres of prairie restoration, nearly 5,000 acres of seasonal shallow water wetlands and a permanent 2,750-acre shallow water impoundment. The IDNR purchased the 8,034 acres property in October 2005.

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